B_Flat_Blues
New Member
After working out the beginning of the theme song to the children's show "Little Bill" on my son's toy piano I figured I should get a real keyboard and take some piano lessons.
Some distant memory triggered by my piano teacher showing me the "9 chord" made me remember The Carpenters, in particular a song called "Close to You".
I tried to remember its chord progression, but I was only 5 the last time I had heard it, in the car with my mom who was a big fan, and couldn't for the life of me get it right. I don't own a record player, but luckily someone who did made me an MP3, and recording in hand I sat down to figure it out.
It seemed to me pure genius; the "progression" seemed to just roam wherever it pleased, as a casual conversation might comfortably ramble, and I was totally baffled as to how anyone could have thought up something like that.
My piano teacher told me that that "progression" wasn't really a "progression" in the traditional sense because it wasn't "modal" but was "purely voice-led" and that that was very advanced music theory. She also challenged me to give it a try myself! I've been an eager student of music theory ever since.
She elaborated: the first "bridge" in "Close to You" builds up a resolution by shifting from voice-led chords to a modal progression, but the key of that progression is ambiguous until the final resolution in the second "bridge".
They say once you know the magician's secret the tricks don't seem so impressive, but in this case all I have to say is, "Wow!" "Close to You" is more impressive than ever.
Thanks, Mr. Carpenter! You're an inspiration!
Some distant memory triggered by my piano teacher showing me the "9 chord" made me remember The Carpenters, in particular a song called "Close to You".
I tried to remember its chord progression, but I was only 5 the last time I had heard it, in the car with my mom who was a big fan, and couldn't for the life of me get it right. I don't own a record player, but luckily someone who did made me an MP3, and recording in hand I sat down to figure it out.
It seemed to me pure genius; the "progression" seemed to just roam wherever it pleased, as a casual conversation might comfortably ramble, and I was totally baffled as to how anyone could have thought up something like that.
My piano teacher told me that that "progression" wasn't really a "progression" in the traditional sense because it wasn't "modal" but was "purely voice-led" and that that was very advanced music theory. She also challenged me to give it a try myself! I've been an eager student of music theory ever since.
She elaborated: the first "bridge" in "Close to You" builds up a resolution by shifting from voice-led chords to a modal progression, but the key of that progression is ambiguous until the final resolution in the second "bridge".
They say once you know the magician's secret the tricks don't seem so impressive, but in this case all I have to say is, "Wow!" "Close to You" is more impressive than ever.
Thanks, Mr. Carpenter! You're an inspiration!